Star Trek: Espada
by Steven Samuels
Summary: In an age where the Soul Society and the Federation live at peace, an ancient evil reawakens and threatens the safety of the entire quadrant...
1. The End Of The Kongo

It seemed like a quiet day in the Universe. Stars dotted the sky as the planets danced in perfect unison with each other. The Soul society showed no signs of giving up to boredom however they were about to see one of the bloodiest conflicts of all of their lifetimes. The Espada, a once dead group, only seen for a fraction of a moment in the eyes of time, would become the greatest threat to humanity ever.

A small federation Deadulus class refit seemed to slowly crawl across that starry sky, as the rumble of the impulse drive broke the dead silence of space. "Captain's log, stardate 66108.3, Captain Luna Kurosaki recording. We've read some slight tachyon emitions from an area of space in the Argolis cluster. We are on route to investigate." Captain Kurosaki walked onto her bridge as her eyes gazed upon her crew. It had been 15 years since the Soul Society Exchange had begun. The Soul Society had recently revealed itself to humanity and its new found era of peace and an agreement of cultural sharing had been arranged. The USS Kongo, which was one of the research vessels in the SSE task force, had 40 Soul Reapers working aboard her, to see what humanity was like in its natural state. "Sir, I'm reading more tachyon emitions but they are stronger then before. And they are moving." Lieutenant Kuchiki stated as she peered over the tactical arc, down at her captain. Captain Kurosaki's face turned to that of wonder. "Moving? No…it couldn't be! A cloaking device?" Suddenly an older man turned his head quickly from his seat. "Sir! I'm reading an unknown vessel! Its weapons are powered!" In moments the bridge became engulfed in a hail of sparks and steam as EPS conduits ruptured all around the ship. The man had easily recognizable tattoos; it was Renji sitting at tactical. "Hull breach on deck 9! Emergency Force Fields offline!" yelled ensign Jupiter Peregrine. Captain Kurosaki stood up from the ground and sat down in her command chair. With an angry smirk she asked "Renji, are our weapons still online?" Renji looked at her and noticed the glint in her eyes as he nodded. "Oh yeah, phasers are online and torpedo tubes are loaded." Captain Kurosaki smiled and nodded. "Then let's give them a taste of their own medicine. Fire all weapons." Bright bursts of blue light shot from the large dome shaped command section as phaser fire pierced the dark vacuum of space. A portion of a green bubble appeared in front of the weapons blast as the weapons were absorbed by the shields. "Direct hit, their shields are down to 45 percent." Renji said as Captain Kurosaki was blasted from her chair. Blood dripped from her head as the smell of burning flesh and conduit filled the bridge. "Captain!?" Renji said, with fear all over his face. He quickly hit his COM badge and yelled "MEDICAL EMERGENCY! DECK 1! THE CAPTAIN IS HIT!" He tapped his console quickly to put the weapons on auto-fire. The weapons began to fire repeatedly as the other vessel continued to pound the USS Kongo. Renji crouched by the captain as Lieutenant Kuchiki pounded her panel. "ENGINES ARE OFFLINE! WARP CORE IS GOING CRITICAL! 3 MINUTES UNTILL CORE BREACH!" Renji glanced at the viewscreen and muttered. "Kuso…all hands. Abandon ship." Klaxon alarms began to ring all over the ship as Kuchiki picked up her fallen Captain and ran to the turbolift. "Renji, come on!" Renji turned to her and shook his head. "Go on, I'll join you shortly." She nodded as the door closed. The bridge was empty except for Renji who turned to the helm console. "We still have maneuvering thrusters, good." All over the surface of the ship small escape pods lifted from its hull and flew off into the darkness of space. Explosions ripped through the hull of the Kongo as it began to limp towards the attacking ship. Renji stared at its hull and saw the first distinct marking on its hull the insignia of the Klingon Empire. He closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable. The Kongo's lower half slammed into the Klingon warship and sheered off as the warship crumbled under the heavy impact. The bridge and 3 other decks narrowly missed the resulting carnage and destruction as the warp core detonated. The resulting shockwave sent the bridge section into a nearby nebula, with Renji still aboard. Slowly three other ships decloaked in the vast void and took the same course towards Earth. From behind the moons of Argolis prime, hundreds more sped outwards towards the Federation.

Renji stood up from the floor three days later. The viewscreen was gone, replaced only by a gaping tear in the ship's hull. He could read the registry number on the hull of the command section. He sighed and looked around. "Computer, status?" He asked. "Life support on backup reserves. Time remaining: 18 days. Weapons, engines, and communication systems offline, shuttlebay one, heavily damaged." His eyes widened at the final statement. 'Heavily damaged', but not destroyed. He quickly asked "What is the status of the Turboshaft?" The computer replied. "Turbolift systems offline. Turboshaft 1 exposed to space. Turboshaft two at minimal hull integrity. Hull breach imminent." Renji shook his head and walked to the turbolift doors and pulled them open. He grunted as he glanced at his leg and saw blood dripping. He chuckled as he looked up and down the shaft. He heard metal creak from the degrading shaft as he swung to the first bar of the long ladder down to deck four. Bar by bar he worked his way downward as the creaking became louder. He landed on top of a turbolift on deck two. "Damn it!" He cursed. In order for him to survive he had to find a way thru this turbolift. It was then when he opened the top and saw the entire bottom half of the turbolift had been ripped away. He scaled his way down and reached the next bar. He finally reached deck four and pried the doors open. He slowly reached onto the floor of the deck when he heard a loud snap. His head tilted up as he saw the turbolift hanging above his head. It quickly jolted down 5 feet closer to him. He began to frantically pull himself upwards as he heard two more snaps and another five feet of distance was lost. As he pulled himself up a final snap was heard and the turbolift plummeted down towards the bottom of the shaft. He smiled, not realizing the danger he was truly in. When the turbolift hit the bottom it blasted a hole in the ship as he began to fly out of the room. He couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it. All his work just sucked out into space. He grabbed the edge of the door frame as chairs and loose panels began to fly out of the corridor into the shaft and out to space. A large panel cover slammed into his hand chopping off his ring finger as he screamed in agony. He pulled himself inside slowly and closed the doors and once more the world turned black to him. Hours passed until he finally regain consciousness. His eyes swept around the room as he remembered the horrors which he had witnessed. He stood up as he walked down the corridor. He had left his zanpakuto in his quarters, per Starfleet orders. He opened the door and picked it up. Inspected it for a moment or so and then headed out. He continued walking and found the large double doors. He jammed his zanpakuto in the cracks and pried it open slowly. Suddenly flames shot out of the door and burned his face and arms. The doors flew open to reveal a shuttlebay in flames. He stood up and pushed his way in, his face in excruciating pain. He climbed into a runabout and sat down. His gigai began to fail as he grabbed a medkit and healed the burnt flesh on his face. He tapped the buttons to set a course and open the doors. The panel buzzed at him as the door remained shut. "No!" He shouted, banging on the console. He looked around the room and saw a handheld phaser. He walked over, picked it up, and put on an EVO suit while leaving the door to the shuttle open. He ran to the main latch of the door and set the phaser down. A loud whine began to pierce his ears as the phaser exploded into flame, blasting the shuttledoor open as the ships—and Renji, were sucked out of the ship. He smiled and allowed himself to drift for a moment before using his boosters to push him towards the runabout. He grabbed its hull and climbed inside then closed the door, removed his helmet and sat down. Compared to the _Kongo_ she was in good condition. Everything was online except for her shields. Those were fried during the initial attack. He scanned the sector and looked at his console. He read 4 dots on his screen and zoomed in. A Phoenix class starship was running from three small fighters. He checked his weapons systems and his impulse drive and discovered the inoperative shields were still taking energy from the warp core. He shook his head and re-routed the shield power to the pulse phaser turrets. He then opened a channel. "Federation starship this is Runabout…" his voice trailed as he thought about his ship. "What was its name?" he thought. He piped up once more "I seem to have forgotten my ship name, I'm one of the survivors from the _Kongo_, I'm reading 3 fighters chasing you, are you in need of assistance?" At that moment he realized the starship had no weapons. His eyes widened as he punched in the coordinates and went to warp. He only needed three minutes to arrive at the battle. The Phoenix class ship was in worse condition then he expected. Its sensor pod was sheered off; one of its nacelles had just exploded and caused massive damage. He then looked to the three fighters and realized they were refitted Jem'Hadar bug-ships. "Certainly no match for a runabout." He thought as he turned his nose to the first and fired a large burst at its hull. The fighter burst into flames as the runabout flew through the explosion. The nose of the runabout twisted upwards as it darted through the stars; as if to race against time itself. Suddenly a green blast slammed against its weapons array, disabling it in a single blow. Renji swung his ship around and looked right at the large _Neg'Var_ class warship. He cursed under his breath as he fired his final torpedo. He had to think quickly. It was then that he remembered the sensor pod on top of his ship. Renji transferred all power to the scanning beam and rerouted plasma flow into the projection system. He then ordered a sensor scan which shot out a plasma-beam into the hull of the enemy ship. The Klingon vessel blasted apart but his ship wasn't much better. The sensor pod had melted over the back windows along with the only exit. Although he was near another federation ship, all he had to do was land and it would all be over with. He tapped the button to open a comm. Channel to the federation starship. "Federation vessel, this is SSE officer Renji Abarai of the USS _Kongo_ requesting emergency docking clearance." The comm. was silent for a moment and then a voice was heard "Commander Abarai, this is the USS Nightingale, I'm glad to see another survivor, you're cleared to dock in shuttlebay 1. We have emergency teams standing by, along with a visitor who wants to see you. Captain Marcus out." The small runabout landed in the docking bay as welding teams ran into place and cut their way into the main hatch of the Runabout. Renji stepped out and looked around the shuttlebay as he was hugged by Lieutenant Kuchiki. "I'm so glad your ok Renji, everyone thought the worst about you…" She looked up at him as he smirked. "Come on Rukia, You really think a crash like that would stop me?" She smiled and shook her head. "I never gave up hope but…Captain Kurosaki died earlier today…her injuries were too extensive to repair. However, she has given me the authority, and honor to promote you to the rank of Captain, along with your choice of ship and crew to command. Congratulations sir, I'm just sorry it had to be under these circumstances." Renji nodded and walked to the window. Space was no longer a friendly wonder that he looked to with a smile. It was a place of death and despair. The year is 2389, and the Klingon War has begun…uyyuhh

_**TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 2: WAR AND PEACE**_


	2. War And Peace

_**2 MONTHS LATER…**_

Captain. The title still felt odd to Renji Abarai. The soul society gave him his new assignment. Work with the Federation to find out what got 38 of their reapers killed. He looked out of the window of Drydock 19 as he saw his ship coming into view. He himself was in shock that Starfleet would give him such a powerful vessel. The _USS Courageous_ came into his view as he smiled and looked to his side. Standing next to him was his first officer, assigned to him by the new First Division Captain. Rukia smiled up at her commanding officer before he said to her "It's a beautiful ship." She nodded then glanced out her window, realizing it had been pulled out of the Junkyard. Hull breaches dotted her exterior, as burn marks scorched the Aztec painted hull. "Beautiful? I'm surprised it can still maneuver." Renji laughed at her comments as he sighed while staring off at the ship "It doesn't have to be in perfect condition in order to have promise. And this ship? Has more promise then any other ship I've seen. She's a fighter, and so are we." Rukia looked up at him with a smile and nodded, understanding what he meant as they headed for the main docking hatch. The door opened to the main bridge in shambles, wires hung from the ceiling as sparks flew from the computer terminals. Suddenly the constant hum of the warp core dimmed into nothingness as the lights faded and a cracking noise echoed from the Turboshaft. Renji remembered the Kongo all too well as he asked "What the hell is going on?" Quickly the turbolift doors opened as smoke poured out of the turbolift. "Get an extinguisher in there!" Three engineers ran to the doors and sprayed what looked to be a white foam into the turbolift. Another man began to climb his way out of the turbolift. His armor and mask were unmistakably that of Mayori, the lead scientist in the Soul Society. "That damned turbolift is down again. Plasma rupture on Deck 3, best go contain it." Mayori looked up at Renji and smiled "You picked a fine ship." He said, noticing Renji's slight smirk. "Well, I knew you like to tinker around, so why not find out about human engineering?" Renji's smirk widened as Mayori said "I don't care how advanced Soul Society is, if they want to keep this SSE program running they had better explain the difference between a plasma manifold and an EPS conduit." Mayori shook his head and continued. "Either way, she should be out of Drydock within the week, providing we can contain the hull breaches until we bring the Structural Integrity Fields online." Renji looked at him. "And that would be when, exactly?" Mayori sighed and said "As long as everything holds, within three hours. However noise is at a premium, you may want to sleep aboard the station until were ready to depart." Suddenly a red alert siren went off as the computer chimed "Plasma leak on deck three. Emergency forcefield offline." Mayori chucked and said "If you'll excuse me, I have a slight problem." He ran off as Renji and Rukia headed for the airlock. Rukia looked up at Renji with a big smirk and said "A beauty, huh?"


	3. Ressurection

"Captain Abarai, this is Lieutenant Lunai, your chief engineer. We're ready to bring the warp core back online. Would you like to attend?" Renji stared at the dark ceiling of his temporary quarters on base as he thought about it. _It's just a warp core turning on, no big deal. But it's your first ship coming under its own power. New life from the closed circuits and bio-neural gel packs. You have to be there._ He stood up as he thought about it. He didn't want to deal with the loud cheering. "Sir?" The voice called as he moaned. He finally tapped his combadge and said "I'm on my way to the observation deck, don't start without me." Renji walked the corridors to the observation deck, to his surprise admiral Janeway was standing there as well. "Hello Renji." She said with a smile. He remembered her from the Breen War, his ship was taking fire when the USS Voyager came in and took out the dominion bug ship. "Admiral, it's a pleasure to see you, how is life aboard the Voyager? I hear your doing desk work?" Renji asked. Her smile turned to a grimace quickly as she winced. For some reason she couldn't stand 'desk work'. "I'm not to fond of it, however being able to sleep a full night has it's advantages. But I'm almost never sleeping in my quarters. Too much work to do, so the ready room is my home away from home." Renji couldn't help but smirk "Don't you wish you had my assignment?" Janeway nodded and replied "Don't worry, I'll find something to do." Renji turned to the porthole as he looked out at his ship as the lights and engines burst to life. "Captain! We have a steady plasma stream and an active warp core!" The crew burst into cheer as Renji smiled. "Good work everyone, lets get to work." The next few days were filled with signing PADDs, overseeing repairs, and shaking hands with Admirals, and then the day came.


	4. Briefings and Fears

"Captain's log, first entry. Captain Renji Abarai recording. It's been over two months since the death of my XO…my wife…Captain Kurosaki. I now am taking command of the USS Courageous, she's an experimental ship, with a bad past, but I've been assured she is completely safe. Today I'm going to be briefed on my first mission, however I believe I already know what it is."

Admirals and Renji's senior staff sat at the large briefing table as the USS Courageous loomed in the background though the windows. "Two months ago, the USS Kongo was lost in the Argolis cluster. She was destroyed by a Klingon ship." The entire room sounded with the dull roar of whispers as Admiral Janeway continued. "Now, we haven't had contact with the Klingons since the second Romulan war. We attempted to contact the high council by subspace but all indications show that the Klingon home world is dark. We don't know if this is a technical error, or something more." The room fell silent at the word "dark''. Finally Janeway spoke again. "However, the firepower the warship was much stronger then our records show. That is why I have brought you here. Captain Abarai and his crew, will gather data on the wreckage of both the Klingon warship…and the _Kongo_. You depart at 0900 hours, gentlemen, good luck and Godspeed, Dismissed." The crew stood up and headed outside to their rooms to begin packing. Renji walked inside his quarters and began to pack. He looked at a picture of his wife as he smiled. He finished packing and lay down. Slowly he closed his eyes and he fell asleep.

Everything was white, a voice was calling to Renji. "Come on! Were going to be late!" Slowly he could see once more, he was standing in a empty corridor, looking down the range at his wife in Starfleet uniform. She had a bright smile on her face. It was their graduation day at the academy. "Here I come!" Renji ran after her down the corridor, and she kept going further. Suddenly she vanished, and Renji stood in the shuttlebay of the Kongo, his wife stood in the corner of the room. He watched himself go through his deed of blasting the door open, once more his wife vanished, then everything vanished. He was falling into nothing, and then he woke up, his face covered in sweat. He closed his eyes tight and blinked away his tears before tossing the picture of his wife into his carrying case, he turned to his clock, it was 0830, and more importantly, he was late.

Renji grabbed his bags, looked at the empty quarters then boarded the USS Courageous. "All stations, sound off." Renji said as he sat down in his center seat. He gently stroked the arm-rests as he looked forward. Quickly, a soft voice chimed from helm control. Ensign Hanataro turned around to face Renji. "Engine systems online, thruster systems on standby". All along the bridge he was getting the green light. "Commander, signal the quartermaster. Were heading out, helm, one quarter impulse, once were clear, proceed to full impulse and set course for the Argolis cluster." Renji ordered as he took a deep breath. Slolwly the USS Courageous powered its heavy lumbering engines. Like the great giant she is she slowly began to pull away from her dry dock. "We are clear of all moorings, going to full impulse." The low hum of the impulse engines were downed out by the noise of officers doing the main checks. "Warp drive, online. Ready to proceed to warp at your command." The engineer, a bolian, said to Renji. "Helm, set course for the Argolis cluster. Warp 7." Hanataro nodded as he tapped his touchscreen. "Course set, proceeding to warp." Everyone on the bridge looked out the main viewscreen. Stars began to stretch as the gravity began to lessen, then a bright flash and the gravity returned to normal and the stars streaked by the viewscreen at light speed. He had done it. He has his own command.


	5. The Internal Flame

Once more he was falling, but now it seemed more real. He watched his ship go up in flames as Klingon ships fired at the hull. His eyes opened once more. "…Only a dream." He said as he sat up. It had been two days since they began their search. They found slight pieces of wreckage but the main saucer section was still missing. "Sir, there is something you should see." Came the voice of Rukia. Renji stood up and spoke. "I'm on my way." When he reached the bridge he saw his fear. The saucer of the _Kongo_ drifted on the viewscreen.

"There is some sort of dampening field over her hull. A well placed phaser burst should cancel the field." Renji nodded. "Do it." The phaser burst struck the hull, but instead of the field dissipating, It grew stronger. Soon the field acted as a barrier over the hull. "What happened?" Renji asked. "It seems as if the Klingons have a new dispersion field to stop any transport of officers." Hanataro said softly as he turned back to the screen. "_I guess they don't want any enemies to get off a dying ship. Not very honorable on their part._" Renji thought to himself. "Could a runabout safely pass through the field?" The bridge felt silent. "_Is he crazy? If it cant whoever is aboard the ship would die in an instant. And even if it could go in, what guarantee was there that it could leave?"_ Hanataro wondered, most of the crew thought the same.

"Well then, Rukia, your with me. Meet me in shuttlebay two. Get me a data uplink from the ship to the runabout. I want you to record everything it does." Renji barked as he and Rukia headed for the turbolift. Hanataro nodded to signify he had heard and began to work on the uplink. The doors to the Turbolift closed. "Shuttlebay Two." Rukia said and the turbolift sped towards its destination. "Don't worry Rukia, we've faced Hollows, Vizards, Espada, and rouge Klingons. We can handle a small barrier." Rukia smiled and nodded. "Right." Decks flew by the windows of the turbolift as it came to a stop at the Shuttlebay. The two soul reapers walked onto deck with phasers at their side until they finally came to a stop. The _Chicago_ sat in the shuttlebay with it's door open. Rukia took her seat at the tactical station as Renji manned helm. "This is the _Chicago_ we are ready for departure." Renji said. "_Chicago_, you are clear to launch. Good luck sir." Came the voice of the controller. With an agile leap the runabout darted out of the launch bay and headed towards the Kongo.

"Rukia, bring the SIF to full. If we loose some paint I would like to keep my air." Rukia nodded as the ship slowly drifted towards the saucer section of the wrecked Ambassador class ship. Ever since the emergency launch the shuttle bays had sealed shut. The only way in was a direct space walk to the bridge. Slowly the ship approached the field. "Alright Rukia…here it goes." Slowly the ship drifted into the field and slipped through. "And were in. hail the _Courageous_." Rukia nodded, after a moment the console beeped, signifying that a link could not be established. "Captain, I can't get a transmission out, it must be the barrier." Renji sat and shook his head. "It's fine, this should only be a few minutes. We just go in, grab the computer core, and get out." Renji stated as he stepped out of the runabout. His feet were on the registration number. Once clearly defined, the ship name was now charred from phaser fire. Renji walked foreward, deeply saddened at the sight. The two silently boarded the bridge. Blood was strewn from the tactical seat to the turbolift. Softly Rukia asked "Who could walk with a wound that severe?" Renji sighed and spoke "I could…I _did_." Rukia once more looked depressed and sighed as she walked to the back console and opened it up. He looked around and saw the Computer core memory chips and began to remove them, Rukia meanwhile, seemed fixated on the stars as she strained her sight to see what was happening. "Renji, another ship is coming in." Renji grabbed the rest of the chips as he stood up. "Alright, let's go!" The pair began to walk to the _Chicago_ when a blue light appeared from the unknown vessel. The two looked at each other and began to run towards the shuttle as the light slammed into the wreckage of the _Kongo_.

"Red alert! Get a phaser spread on that ship, I want it to come after us, **not** the _Kongo_!" Shouted Lieutenant Beau. He was the second in command. The _Courageous_ drifted into firing range as it fired its disruptor cannons onto the attacking ship. As the enemy cruiser jolted from the impact it fired a massive, red torpedo. Beau stared at it as he saw Renji and Rukia running for the shuttle but it was to late. The torpedo slammed into the _Kongo's_ remains, forcing it to collapse in on itself. He saw two bodies floating in space. Rukia and Renji floated unconsciously and aimlessly through the dark void. "Lock transporters on them, and try and get those data chips!" Jason shouted at Hanataro. Within a moment the two bodies glowed blue and disappeared. A moment later Hanataro spoke up. "Captain Abarai and Commander Kuchiki are aboard. And…we are being hailed." Jason looked at the viewscreen for a moment, the cruiser looming in its sight. "Open a channel." Hanataro nodded as an older looking man, with glasses appeared on the screen. "This is commander Aizen of the Espada flagship Klurong. Lower your shields and prepare to be boarded, if you do not comply you will be destroyed." With a smile he added, "I advise you lower your shields." Jason glared at the screen and stepped foreward. "I am commander Jason Beau. First officer of the federation Starship _Courageous_. We are also the flagship of the SSE program. Any act of aggression will be taken as an act of war. I understand you enjoy toying with us but I _nor_ Captain Abarai take kindly to threats." Beau ordered. Sweat dripped down his brow as he anxiously waited for Aizen's reply. Both bridges were silent as Aizen's grin turned to a grimace as he spoke. "Well, then it seems I only have one option left." The image of Aizen disappeared as the large battlecruiser began firing at the _Courageous_. The bridge shook as the concussion of the impact blasted a security officer over the tactical arc.

The turbolift door opened behind them as Captain Abarai limped out and stepped towards the tactical arc. "Hanataro, bring us about on a retreating course. Keep us slow and straight then vent plasma from the port nacelle." Hanataro looked at Renji as sparks flew between the Captain and the tactical officer. Slowly the _Courageous_ came about as its nacelle began to vent plasma. The battle cruiser fired as it came on a parallel course with the _Courageous_. Renji smirked as it flew into the wave of ignitable gas. "Alright, now send off a burst of Plasma then close the vents and fire phasers at the cloud on my mark." He ordered. The lumbering cruiser drifted into the cloud as Renji's smirk widened. "Fire." With his words, a bright orange beam ripped through the cloud, detonating it and seemingly destroying the cruiser. "Alright, now set course for Earth, maximum warp." The _Courageous_ came out of the fireball and jumped to warp leaving the enemy cruiser in it's trail.

_**TO BE CONTINUED IN**_

_**THROUGH THE FIRE AND FLAMES**_


End file.
